This chick is gonna get us both killed, Max thought.
She raised the small metal trash can high over her head. When Jimenez burst at them, arms flailing like a wild beast, Max brought it down with all the strength she had, connecting with the back of his skull in a sickening thud. He was rising up again in no time, his movements jerky and uncoordinated like a wino.
Gemma threw the door open, her head turned toward the action, and the door smacked her in the face. She crashed to the floor once more, her arms wind-milling out and catching Max in the process, sending her back into the hard wall without warning. Max had the wind knocked clean out of her from the impact. She slipped to the floor and Gemma pinned her down with her weight as she landed in her lap. Jimenez staggered toward them.
I must have damaged something with that last hit, Max thought. He’s not incapacitated, but he’s definitely had the juice zapped out of him.
Max frantically tried to shove Gemma's dead weight off of her lap, but the frightened girl didn't budge. Jimenez was within striking distance. Soon he would be on top of them. Max kicked her right leg out as hard as she could. It collided with his left knee as he lumbered forward, sending him involuntarily spinning around. Her wind returned and she screamed at Gemma.
“Get the hell off me!”
Gemma snapped out of it and stood up, turning around and helping her up. Max didn't waste any time bolting for the bedroom door this time. She wasn't going to be zombie food because some idiot girl couldn't keep her wits about her. The hatch to the command center was still open. Max made short work of crawling back down into the converted storage space. Gemma was right behind her, practically clinging to her back. As Max rocketed through the door, Gemma let out a shocked cry. Max turned to see Jimenez had a handful of Gemma's long blonde hair and was trying to pull her back into the bedroom.
Max wheeled around and drove a hard and precise knuckle punch into Jimenez's throat, then drove an upward blow to his wrist, knocking his grip loose. Gemma fell to the floor with a squeal.
“What the hell is going on?” Parker shouted. Gunner turned and saw Jimenez hanging in the crawlspace, dazed from the force of the blow to the throat. Gunner jumped to his feet and drew his gun. Marching quickly forward he advanced, arms raised to keep the barrel level and even with Jimenez's head until he had a clean shot. Max backed up behind Gunner. Jimenez stuck out both his arms and lunged toward them, the appearance of a smile crossing his face. Gunner didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger and shot him between the eyes, blowing a hole clean through his head. The spray covered Gemma with blood and brains. Jimenez fell into the command center with a loud thud and lay still. Blood poured from the enormous gunshot wound in his head.
“Did you open the apartment door?” Gunner's eyes were wild. He still had the gun up.
“No,” Max quickly replied. “I swear.”
“Son of a bitch must have been in here the whole time,” Gunner said, lowering the gun at last.
Gemma shook with fear. He'd almost managed to get his filthy mouth on her when Max ran out of the bathroom, deserting her. The adrenaline had goosed her back to reality, making her sprint out on Max's heels, clinging to her back side. The feeling of her heart pounding in her chest made her want to puke. She swooned from the panic overload. Fear flooded her as Gunner moved toward her.
“You okay?” Gunner asked. She shook her head but didn't make eye contact with him. Icy cold fear flooded her insides. She knew in her heart that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her, the same way the security guard at the hospital had murdered Candy. If he thought for a second she was sick he would put her down without a word. She began to take big gulps of air.
“I'm fine,” Max said quickly. They all turned to Gemma.
“I'm can't breathe,” she said, pushing herself away from them.
“Get her a bag to breath in,” Gunner said. “She's hyperventilating from the shock.”
Travis went into the cabinet and brought back out a white sack. Gemma took it gratefully and began to breath in and out. Within seconds she had calmed down and could talk again.
“That was a close call,” she said, trying to sound as casual as she could. She took Max by the hand and stared deeply into her eyes.
“What?” Max complained. “Get off me.”
“Thank you so much,” Gemma said. “You saved my life.”
“You almost got us both killed up there,” Max scolded her, but there wasn't the usual ferocity to her tone. “You gotta learn to move faster.”
“I know,” Gemma agreed. “You’re right.”
Max smiled and rubbed her head like she was a puppy who'd accidentally gone to the bathroom inside the house.
“Who the hell is that?” Travis asked.
“Looks like my next door neighbor Jimenez,” Gunner answered. “He used to work for the city hauling trash. He must have slipped in when I was out saving your asses.”
“Any other surprises, Gunner?” Max said, the usual aggressive edge having found its way back into her voice.
“I thought you said this place was safe?” Parker added.
“It is safe,” Gunner bristled.
“Apparently not,” Travis said pointing to the front of the apartment. A horde of zombies had gathered, drawn in by the sound. They were shaking the doors, trying to pull them off the hinges. Gunner let out a string of curse words that, under normal circumstances, would have made Gemma blush.
“This isn't good,” Gunner said. “With numbers that large it won't take them long to get through. They've locked onto our scent. There's no stopping them now.”
Gunner sprang up and pulled the hatch down on the command center. A series of loud metallic clicks indicated he'd locked them in. The stench of the dead zombie began to overpower them.
“Great,” Max said. “So we're trapped in here like some kind of snack machine for these freaks?”
“What are we gonna do?” Gemma joined in.
“Calm down,” Travis said. “We just need to think. Is there another way out of here?”
“I can get us out of here,” Gunner said. “That's not the problem.”
“Then what's the problem?” Max got up in his face.
“Where we go next is the problem,” Gunner informed her. “I've got a suggestion.”
“Of course you do,” Parker said. “I can't wait to hear it. I'm sure none of us can.”
“Go on,” Travis said seriously. “I want to hear it.”
“Nellis Air Force Base is a short distance from here,” Gunner explained. “It's part of why I chose this location.”
“You think they are just going to let civilians walk on base during a crisis?” Max roared.
“They'll probably shoot us on sight,” Parker joined in. “I know I would.”
“They won't shoot us,” Travis said. “They'll just strip us down to make sure we aren't infected.”
“That's right,” Gunner said.
“It's actually a pretty good plan,” Travis said. “But how do we get from here to there in one piece as a group?”
“The back wall is rigged to blow out,” Gunner explained. “There is a set of stairs that leads up to the street. Anything caught in the blast radius will be turned into meat. The sound will draw a lot of attention, bring some heat on us, but we'll get a window of opportunity to make our escape.”
“While that's a beautiful sentiment and all,” Parker said condescendingly, “we're going to need a real plan fast before we head out on a suicide mission.”
As if to drive his point home, one of the larger zombies growled and threw himself against the doors with a crash.
“I don't see you coming up with anything,” Max said.
“I got us here,” Gunner said walking over to the cabinet and taking several clips. He stuffed them into his pockets as he talked. “I'll get us out. I've got enough ammo stocked in here to fight off a small force. Grab what you can. Take all the ammo you can carry. I'll lead out front. Just try not to accidentally shoot me.
”
Parker and Max both took handguns. Travis, feeling uncomfortable with a firearm, opted for some water and a flare gun. Gemma didn't take anything.
“We ready?” Gunner seemed genuinely excited about the prospect of making a break for it.
“About as ready as we're ever going to be for the zombie apocalypse,” Max said.
“Let's do this,” Parker said, gun in hand.
“Stand back and cover your mouths,” Gunner said. “But be ready for the worst. We have no way of knowing what might come tearing through once we blow this sucker open.”
“Do it,” Parker yelled and Gunner pulled a lever on the side of the wall that looked like a fire alarm. There was a sizzling sound, like someone had lit a very long firecracker fuse, then a series of small pops, followed by ground shaking concussive booms that shook the whole room. The wall in front of Gunner simply vanished in a cloud of red dust.
“Let's send these demons back where they belong,” Gunner yelled before running into the cloud with guns held high. The rest of them looked on in shock for a moment. The sound of gunfire popping brought them back to the harsh reality they were living in.
“Go!” Parker yelled. “Go now!”
Max turned and ran through the hole in the wall, followed by Travis and Gemma. Parker took one last look at the monitors. The horde had ripped the doors off the apartment and were swarming in. They'd gotten out just in the nick of time.
“Son of a bitch was right,” Parker said, turning and running into the hole after them.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
The streets were awash with unmitigated chaos. Everywhere they looked, zombies roamed in packs of three or more, making sweeping circles that covered nearly every inch between them and the empty-looking strip mall. The nightmare-scape extended down the street as far as the eye could see. Cars piled up on each other, buildings burning, zombies eating anything that moved - it was beyond anything they could have imagined. It was sheer luck they hadn't been eaten yet, and Gunner knew that luck wasn't bound to last long.
They'd used up all their ammo coming out of the ground. Even with Gunner's aim and experience they'd only been able to take out half the targets they'd intended and eventually ended up making a flat out run through the neighborhood. Parker was surprised how easy it was to point a gun at what used to be a living, breathing person and shoot them in the face. Max seemed to be enjoying it as well. They made wide sweeps around the rest of the group firing at anything that moved while Travis and Gemma huddled in the middle and inched forward.
Nellis was only a few blocks away but they had a bigger problem no one had anticipated. While the property line was close by the actual gates and barracks were set back almost a mile on dirt and sand, well out of their reach. By the time they reached the last block it became clear they'd never make it in a million years, that the zombies would easily cut them down as they tried to clear the distance.
They'd managed to break free and hunker down in the bushes across the street from a small strip mall. Gunner was starting to think it was a mistake to have left Thunderdome in the first place. He had no idea how he was going to get them across the street or secure the buildings once they got there. There was a automotive parts store in the middle with the door slightly ajar. That was their best bet. Next to it stood a camping goods store and a liquor mart. If they could at least get in and lock the place down then they'd have enough time to start working on their next plan.
Think you idiot, Gunner berated himself. There has to be a way across and in.
A loud cry rent the air as a female zombie not twenty feet away from them howled at the sky. Her entire face had turned a dark shade of purple, like a bruise running from the middle of her neck up. She was missing the lower part of her right arm. Judging from the way the strands of torn flesh hung, it had been ripped clean off during an attack that had also involved having the better part of her throat chewed out. Her hair was still up in old fashioned rollers, covered with a thin net. Between her thick legs, a black cord dangled and at her shuffling feet were the remains of a dead baby, still attached by the umbilical cord. The stillborn fetus was matted to the side of her ankle with dried blood and filth so that it appeared to be clinging to her, just above her scum-mottled bunny slippers. She had been pregnant when she'd been attacked and the only saving grace had been that the child had not survived. Her large, empty belly and swollen breasts swayed pendulously under her crudely stitched muu muu dress, patterned with splotches of large purple wildflower blossoms. She searched endlessly for any sign of living flesh to quench her hunger, moaning in obvious frustration and pain.
Across from her, in the middle of the street, a red Jeep Grand Cherokee furiously blazed. The windshield was cracked from the inside and somewhere past the spider webbing of the glass were two dead people, still strapped into the car.
A small horde of zombies flocked around a woman off to the left, bending and tearing and chewing away at her flesh. She writhed in pain as they ripped at her flesh with their dull teeth, a single piercing scream her only defense. It rang out high in the air like a tea kettle coming to a boil, then seemed to fade to nothing. Soon her body was limp.
Parker fought back the urge to vomit. Any hope he'd had of things being better was quickly washed away with a casual glance. There would be no going back to normal, not after this. At best, all he and the rest could hope for was to survive, to outlive the nightmare, and that maybe one day in the distant future they might learn to forget, just a few moments at a time.
The thought of it all drained the energy from him. He felt like a million pounds of rocks had been dumped on his body without warning. More than anything he just wanted to lie down and sleep, to give over to the despair, to make this all end. He knew it was no use. He let out a deep, body wracking sigh.
“We've got to get to the stores,” Travis pointed across the street.
“No shit Sherlock,” Gunner spat.
“How are we supposed to get to them?” Max asked. “There are at least a hundred zombies between here and there. Plus, there’s no way of knowing whether or not the store is crawling with these things.”
“I say we just make a straight run for it,” Gunner suggested. “Don't stop. Don't look back. Don't make a sound. Just run as fast as we can and lock ourselves in.”
“Maybe if we hadn't totally blown all the extra ammo, that might have worked,” Max said. “But from where I'm sitting right now, that sounds like another one of your suicide plans. You wanna go out in a blaze of glory, be my guest--but I wanna live.”
Before they could argue further they were interrupted by another blood curdling howl, this time coming from right behind them. It was too late. They’d been spotted! A lean, nasty looking man with a long beard crusted with dried blood was already running toward them in an awkward gait, his limbs stiffening with the onset of rigor mortis. Behind him came two rat-tailed zombie children in blood stained overalls who looked even more ferocious than he did. Papa Hillbilly’s feet were covered in cuts and holes that did not bleed as he raced toward them. Max turned to see the rest of the zombies on the street staring back at them like a piping hot plate of home cooked goodness. She turned on Gunner.
“What are you waiting for, stud?” she screamed. “Let's go!”
Gunner dashed out across the street with Parker, Gemma, Max, and Travis close on his heels. He was more than halfway there, at the edge of the wide street, when he saw the fatal flaw in his plan. The stores all looked clear and intact. The windows reflected bright sunlight and not a drop of blood seemed to stain any of them. But that wasn't the issue. The real problem was the location of the strip mall. On either side of it were two dark alleys, one that presumably lead to a parking lot and another for deliveries. Bands of zombies came rambling out of each alley, almost like a coordinated attack. Gunner backed up, arms out, backing toward the bearded undead man and his wretched progeny. They all came to a halt in the middle of the street, surrounded on all sides. There was no esca
pe.
“Well,” said Max, “I guess this is the end of the road.”
“Gunner,” Parker said. “What do we do now?”
“I don't know,” Gunner admitted, sounding defeated. “I can tell you this though. Whatever happens, I’m taking some of them with me, even if I have to rip their heads off with my bare hands.”
“Me too!” Gemma suddenly shouted, taking everyone by surprise.
“I never thought it would end this way for real,” Max said.
“I can't say I am all that surprised to be honest,” Gunner replied. He turned and smiled sadly at Max and despite the raw fear coursing through her veins, she couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation or the adrenaline rush pumping through her veins. The anger slipped away as the absurdity of it all set in. She'd tried her best. No one could argue that she hadn't.
Soon they’ll be biting me, she thought. Then I’ll be one of them. She wondered if she would be conscious after she turned or if, like Travis had suggested, the virus would kill her in the process of taking over her body. Would dying itself hurt? She hoped not. Whatever happened, she hoped it was quick.
The line of alley zombies cautiously made their way toward them. The lead zombie was an old geezer wearing a black leather jacket and a rawhide cowboy hat; he had long, curly black hair, his eyes dripping an almost golden colored puss. He slunk slowly toward them like a cat hunting something small and defenseless, taking care not to let them escape.
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